Monday, 1 February 2010

After a day in Salem, exploring the rich maritime history and a superb comic shop, rather than the witches this time, we get a slice in Hi-Fi Pizza in Central for tea, then to the gig! Grab a booth in the "Other" Middle East, not the corner restaurant that we've been frequenting for much of this trip. Catch Blake along with partner, Jack Drag mainman John Dragonetti, as they pop out of the venue, and we catch up with this lovely couple of folks before they grab a bite to eat.

We wander in the small upstairs room for first band Hop And Trickle, an odd collection of old beardy weirdoes, who play some drift-away low-fi country stuff which gets an appreciative reception from the small collection of early arrivals. Insubstantial, but I've heard worse...

Get free cola from Mike, The Damn Personals drummer, who's working behind the bar, before Blake arrives onstage at 10, armed with a fat acoustic guitar and a handful of wistful new tunes, including some she's allegedly only written this afternoon! Her pure voice, akin to Tanya Donelly, and relaxed smiling demeanour onstage contribute to a very nice set. John pops in halfway through, and afterwards thanks us for coming along and supporting her. We chat to him and JD bassist Joe Klompus during the opening half of Garland Of Hours' unpleasant keyboard duet set, before the background noise gives Rachel a headache and we head off for the night!